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+--- Thread: Samura and Kishiro - keiretsu or zaibatsu? (/showthread.php?tid=128779)
Samura and Kishiro - keiretsu or zaibatsu? - Fluffyball - 04-26-2015
I came across an interesting description that now-known corporations in Japan are sometimes reffered as keiretsu, whilst from Meiji Period until end of the World War II, the union of companies that had huge influence over the financial grounds (and the governmental funds) were called zaibatsu.
There are both definitions:
Keiretsu (系列) - lit. system, series, grouping of enterprises, order of succession) is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. It is a type of informal business group. (...) The member companies own small portions of the shares in each other's companies, centered on a core bank; this system helps insulate each company from stock market fluctuations and takeover attempts, thus enabling long-term planning in innovative projects. It is a key element of the automotive industry in Japan.
Zaibatsu (財閥), literally financial clique) is a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of World War II. (...) The zaibatsu were the heart of economic and industrial activity within the Empire of Japan, and held great influence over Japanese national and foreign policies.
As for actual situation in the Kusari, I'd point out that Kishiro Technologies is now form of zaibatsu itself - especially that in lore it were Kishiro-affiliated officers who staged the coup - while in the vanillia game both companies were refered to as keiretsu. However, at the time of vanilia Freelancer, it was pretty likely that Samura Heavy Industries was the zaibatsu, as they were the main manufacturer for the Empire of Kusari with Kishiro being not in favour of the Emperor at the time.
This would explain some similarities between Kusari's Samura and WW2 Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.